Eternal Enmity

The purpose of this paper is to provide a rough outline of the enmity that existed between the seed of the serpent and the people of Israel. In the beginning in the Garden of Eden, everything was just fine until Adam and Eve decided to break the one rule that God had given them. So, God cursed the serpent, and in Genesis 3:15 God laid out the protoevangelium: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’” From that point onward enmity has existed between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. There are many examples of how the enmity between the “spiritual seed” of the serpent and the seed of the woman, but in this paper only a handful will be presented in detail

The first example of hostility is Cain’s murder of Abel in Genesis chapter 4. Cain chose not to bring the correct sacrifice to God, and God rejected it. Abel, on the other hand, brought a sacrifice that was pleasing to God. This made Cain jealous, and he murdered his brother. However, the seed line persisted through Adam and Eve’s next son, Seth.

One of the biggest attempts on or the biggest displays of enmity against the seed line was probably the Nephilim. The Nephilim were the sons of fallen angels and human women. By having the fallen angels commit these heinous acts, Satan was attempting to pollute the human race with “angelic genetics,” if you will. And as the Bible makes it clear that angels cannot be redeemed, if the seed of the woman was polluted with the blood/genetics of the Nephilim, it might be possible that they could not be redeemed. God ended up sending a worldwide flood to annihilate the entire world, and it took care of the Nephilim.

The enmity did not stop there. It continued throughout the entire book of Genesis. One of the next significant examples of hostility is Ishmael and Isaac. While Ishmael was Abraham’s first born son, that was not the son that God had chosen to have the seed line go through. It was Isaac. But Isaac ended up getting the blessing, so all was well. Isaac’s sons were not immune to this either, and Esau’s murderous feelings toward Jacob caused a great deal of ruckus. In the end, the seed line persevered. Joseph and his brothers were also in conflict, but this time around it was by means of jealousy. Joseph’s brothers did not murder him; they sold him into slavery. But through God’s providence, it all worked out for good.

Yet another monumental instance of enmity was the conflict between Israel and Egypt. As a part of that conflict, Pharaoh decided that in order to control the population of Israel, that all males born had to be thrown into the Nile. This happened, not so coincidentally, right about the time Moses was born. The seed of the serpent did not succeed in eliminating Moses. Moses was taken in and raised by none other than Pharaoh’s daughter! A second part of the conflict between Egypt and Israel was Pharaoh’s hardness of heart in refusing to let the people go. Finally, after the death of his firstborn son, he was compelled to release the nation of Israel to go their way. Even then Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to chase them down with chariots. However, God was still with the nation of Israel, and He sent the waters of the Red Sea crashing down upon them.

The enmity also continued on throughout Exodus, usually exhibited in the ways Israel grumbled against God or turned away from Him. One colossal example of this took place right after the Israelites came out of Egypt and Moses was on Mt. Sinai talking with God. The Israelites decided that it would be a good idea to make themselves a golden calf to worship. Well, it was not such a great idea, and they got in major trouble. Even though they got in major trouble, God’s people managed to come out the other side of the trial, and Satan did not really win.

Later on in the Pentateuch, Miriam and Aaron complained against Moses. Doubtless, the seed of the serpent was attempting to spread division throughout the camp. It was quickly quelled when Miriam contracted leprosy. Again, the Israelites (led by Korah) openly rebelled against Moses and Aaron. This was yet another attempt to spread division throughout the camp. God overcame it, and struck dead all who were in the rebellion. Moses and Aaron received the blame for the deaths of all of those people, and God killed another 14,700 Israelites because of it. A little while later, the people rebelled yet again. God sent snakes into the camp, and they bit people and many people died. But because of the bronze serpent on a staff that Moses was instructed to make, many people survived. These are all examples of how the seed of the serpent tried to divide the nation of Israel, but it never really seemed to work.

There is also evidence of enmity in the gospels. In John 8, the Pharisees continuously try to bring Jesus down, to throw a figurative stick in his bicycle spokes. Again and again they attacked him, but Jesus would have none of it. They could not succeed in ruining Jesus testimony or finding a flaw in his teaching. No matter how hard the seed of the serpent tried, it could not bring down the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the seed of the woman. Perhaps Satan thought that when Jesus was crucified that the seed of the woman had been defeated, but in all actuality Jesus “crushed his head.” In the end, the seed of the woman stands victorious!

In conclusion, I think the biggest thing that we in 2007 can draw for this is how God is truly in control of everything. God has a plan already laid out, and nothing that Satan can do will ever be big enough to mess with the plan. He is ultimately in control, and we can rest safe in that knowledge. We do not need to worry about anything; He will take care of us!